Stand by for a VENT!!!

So........
I have recently gotten back into participating in a few swaps in sb.com. One of the things I did was the $1-$3 RAK. the person who was supposed to grant my RAK flaked and has never been seen again. But the hostess (I think) of the RAK thread stepped up to grant me a RAK. Now keep in mind, I had granted HER a RAK and sent her some really nice stuff! Today, I received the RAK from her.
First, here is my wishlist, copied and pasted from the thread.
My wishes....

blank cards and envelopes-matching in any colors
any scraps from BG Bittersweet
cats eye ink- any colors
pop dots
tacky tape
binder rings
mini brads- pastels or brights
punchies- brackets, flourishes, scalloped squares
bling!-rhinestones
Tombow Mono Adhesive -green and white bottle
alcohol ink-any color-partial bottles are fine
grosgrain ribbon-no wider than 1/2"-any colors, at least one yard lengths
large diecuts-butterflies, scalloped shapes, topnotes (SU!)

This is what I received today from her.




Now, I ask you, does this resemble anything that is on my wishlist? What am I supposed to do with this? Sort it?? I think not! To say that I am disappointed doesn't even scratch the surface. Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong.

But on another note, I received another package today and it is yummy!!!! I ordered the deal of the day from a bargain website. I got a MME journaling card bundle for 4.99. It has more than 100 pieces in it! I haven't even looked through them yet but I am more than pleased with it.

I went out to the lake tonight with my best friend, robin and we walked 3 1/2 miles. We're gonna do it again on Wednesday if the weather holds out. it was pretty nice today but really windy.

That's it for now.

ETA: After re-reading this post, I see that I did have mini brads downs on my list. But still...what I got looks like crap gathered from the bottom of a junk drawer and I'm still unhappy about it.
And this is my blog and I can be pissed if I want to! :p

I think Mother Nature must have been PMSing this week!

We had one heck of a winter storm roll through here yesterday. It ended up not being as bad as the weather man had warned. But still, for late march, it is unusual to have that type of weather. We were forcast to get 8-16 inches of snow. what we got was sleet, freezing rain, and about a half inch of snow. Today, it is back in the 40's and the sun is shining. I was out Friday evening throwing boxes over my dafodils that has bloomed. I don't know if I saved them yet or not. We'll see.
WW is going alright. I lost another .8 lb. (point 8) I journaled every single day and thought I would do better. Then last night, I kind of blew it and over carbed. Argghhh! I probably won't lose this week for that and I'll be kicking myself in the ass for it.
Work has been brutal. 10 hour days and Saturdays. I'm pretty sick of it. The money is good but damn, I'm tired.
I've been busy working on making cards for a friend of mine. She asked me to make some so she would have a stash. She bought me a $40 gift certificatee for Stampin' Up and I promptly spent it! I can't wait to get my order. I ordered a Top Notes die which will work in my Cuttlebug! I've been accumualting embossing folder and I even bought a set of Nestabilities. I'm going to play with those this afternoon.
No recipe today because I'm too lazy to go find one! Maybe later in the week, I will dig one up.

Sunday Soup

I think I need to come up with a new name for my Sunday recipes since I am not doing soups anymore for a while. Sunday Soire'? Any ideas? Also, if there is any recipe you would like, let me know and I can look for it if I don't already have it.

here's today's recipe. I made these these one night this week for dinner and I loved them!

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders
See notes following recipe for some tips!

15-20 oz chicken tenderloin
1/4 cup corn flake crumbs
1/4 cup panko crumbs
1/2 cup egg substitute
onion powder
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 375.
Place egg substitute in shallow container. Mix together crumbs and seasonings. Place half of the crumb mixture into another shallow container.
Dip, one at a time, each chicken tender into the egg and and let excess drip off. Place it into the crumb mixture to coat. Place chicken tenders onto a baking sheet which has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Serving: 3 tenders= 4 points

NOTES:
Panko Crumbs
When I found this recipe, I had never heard of panko crumbs. These are Japanese bread crumbs and make the coating crispy. You will not achieve the crunchy texture using regular bread crumbs.
Seasonings
The recipe calls for onion powder. You may season the crumbs any way you wish. I used onion powder and Cajun seasoning and it was great. Next time, I'm going to try some garlic powder and herb seasoning.
Storage:
These can be made ahead and frozen until you are ready to cook them. I only cooked 3 of them and froze the rest for later use. I love having easy meals in the freezer. If you bake them frozen, adjust your cooking time to 20-25 minutes. I froze mine on a cookie sheet before placing individual servings into freezer bags.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

It's Spring!!!!

YAY!!! I love spring. I love seeing the buds emerging from their winter sleep and the dafodils in bloom. today, after I got off work, I spend a little while outside picking up little branches that had fallen from the trees over the winter. I put up my spring wreath and changed out the flowers arrangement in my vintage watering can by the front door. I hung out the spring time flag on the pole and swept off the screened porch. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot more time out there soon! I am SO ready to get out in the garden and get my hands dirty. I want to just go out there and start raking off all of last years dead growth. But we could still get a freeze here so I have to be patient. I saw tomatoe plants out at K-Mart today. There's no way I would buy tomato plants this early!
I also stopped by Michael's and Hobby Lobby today...oh and Target too! At M's, I used another 50% off coupon and got the MS doily lace border punch for 7.50. I also picked up three cute little galvenized buckets from the dollar aisle. I think I am going to hang them on my pegboard to put tools in. I have a desktop caddy right now. But I am trying to make more table space.
At HL, I used a 40% off coupon and bought a Cropper Hopper paper holder. I've decided to try this method of storing all of my paper because what I am doing now just isn't working really well for me. I have TONS of paper and I can't find what I am looking for most of the time. I might try sorting it by brand this time and see how it goes. anyway, I am going to get another CH every time there is a 40% off coupon (if I have the money).
At Target, all I picked up was a few Easter goodies to put in my grandchildren's Easter buckets that I am putting together for them.
Then I headed over to Kohl's and bought a very badly needed pair of new sneakers for work. My feet have been screaming at me by the end of the day. But OMG....they cost me $60!!!!!
I didn't make it to the grocery store today which means I'm going to have to go tomorrow. although I may try to squeak by until Monday after work. I hate going anywhere on sundays. It's my 'stay home in my jammies all day" day. LOL!
Let's see...what have i forgotten. Oh....I lost .8 lbs this week (that's POINT 8, not 8 pounds). Not as much as I hoping for but still a loss. I'm being very strict with myself this week and writing down EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth whether it's good or bad. I've GOT to get moving in the right direction with this WW thing. I bought a journal from the dollar bins at M's last week and I carry it with me everywhere and write down what I eat and drink. I hate the little teeny tiny journal that WW gives me so I use this pretty one now. :)
I'll be back tomorrow to post a recipe for some YUMMY chicken tenders.
So that's all that's happening with me. What about you?

Sunday Soup

With the weather getting warmer, this will probably be my last Sunday Soup. I'll still be posting a favorite WW recipe but it probably won't be soup. So here's the soup for this week...

WW 5 Can Soup
This is a GREAT soup for a busy evening when you need dinner in a hurry.

2 cups Del Monte Diced Tomatoes
2 cups Del Monte Mixed Vegetables
2 cups canned white corn
2 cups canned black beans
2 cups Progresso Minestrone Soup

Add all of the above ingredients to a heating pan, and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
1 cup=2 points

NOTES:
I use whatever brand is cheapest, which isn't usually Del Monte. I'm a 'store brand' girl! But I do use the Progresso brand soup. I stock up when it's on sale. I don't substiture the black beans either. They have a great flavor so if you have never tried black beans, I highly recommend them. Most cans are not exactly 2 cups either but close enough for me.

Week from hell...

OMG! This is turning out to be one for the record books. I have to work all day on Saturday AGAIN! There was even a list up for volunteers to work on Sunday this week. Um...no. Not me. My butt will be in bed. Next week, we start working 10 hour days and will most likely have to work on Saturday again. While I would rather be busy than bored at work, I have crossed the threshold from busy to overwhelmed. I'm really glad I have a job. Really I am. But holey moley already!
Today was weigh in day. I lost a pound this week so that's good. I feel like I keep running into a wall with this weight loss. I'm not giving up though. I'll keep plugging along and being grateful that I have come a long ways since I first started. I think a lot of my problem is stress. I have a few things going on in my personal life that are taking a toll on me. I find myself in tears almost every day. Not sure how to make things better. Don't think I can. It's just something that I'll have to deal with.
So that's about it from my corner of the world.

The verdict is in....

The Big Breakfast Cookies (recipe posted yesterday) weren't bad at all! They aren't as sweet as I thought they might be but I don't really care for anything too sweet in the morning anyway. I would definitely make these again.

In other news....the car problems I was having turned out to be not so bad. My niece and her hubby came by on Sunday. He is a very good mechanic. he took one look under the hood and immediately spotted the problem. All it was was a vacuum hose that had been knocked off while the guys at Midas were trying to figure out how to get my oil cap off. Whew! dodged a bullet on that one!

I worked out again tonight. Yay me!! I did The Firm Upper Body workout. It was okay but I really can't stand how ditzy the instructors are on that video. OMG!!! I was glad when it ended and probably won't be doing that one again! LOL!

This daylight savings time crap is killing me! I hate it! I slept too late yesterday and this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed! It will take me 2 months to adjust to it. It always does. Then it will be time to change the stupid clocks again.

O that's it for today. I gotta get to bed.

Sunday soup....well not quite

I'm going to post a recipe today but it's not for soup this week. the weather has been so spring-like that I haven't really been in the mood for soup.
I'm trying so hard to stay positive and motivated this week. I finally got a 2 mile workout done today. It felt good and I hope I can do it more this week.
I got quite a bit done considering I only have one day off this week. The daylight savings time threw me way off and I ended up sleeping way too late. So far today...
3 loads of laundry
cleaned the kitchen
got 5 packages ready to mail
worked out
made Breakfast Cookies (recipe below)

I feel pretty good about that.

Big Breakfast Cookies (3 points each)

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins, seedless
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons baking powder
8 packets sugar substitute
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix together. Spoon 8 big cookies on toa baking shet sprayed with Pam. (I used parchment paper instead of Pam) Spinkle with additional cinnamon if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Per serving
187 calories
2 g fat
5 g protein
39 g carbohydrates
4 g fiber
0 mg cholesterol
187 mg sodium

These smell wonderful while they are baking and they look yummy now that I have them out of the oven. I'll let you know how they taste tomorrow.

I'm baaaaaack!

My computer went tits up on me about 2 weeks ago. It was in the shop twice and I just finally got everything working again yesterday. I'm still having problems getting my printer installed right but I'm tired of messing with it for now.
WW sucks! Let's just get that out of the way. I've hit a plateau. No loss or gain for two weeks. I will keep trying though. It was kind of weird though. This week, more than any other week since I joined WW, I had more people tell me that I was really losing a lot of weight. But I'm not. Nothing at all. Part of me wants to go have a bacon double cheeseburger, onion rings, and a margarita. But then, I would just feel worse. It's so frustrating!
Spring is just around the corner finally and I'm itching to get out in the yard and play in the dirt. I have daffodils and tulips already sprouting. The forsythia bushes and the lilac bush all have little buds on them, just waiting to sprout into leaves. The naked lady lilies are up about 5 inches. It's almost time to start planning the garden again. Yay!!!
I've been working a lot of overtime lately. I think I've worked 7 out of the last 8 Saturdays. The money is coming in handy but I have no time to enjoy it really. My scrapping mojo is completely non-existant. I've been making a few cards but that's about it.

That's about all that's new with me. I'll try to post the Sunday Soup later. Not sure if I will have time between laundry, cooking, and housework. But I will try.